Travelling between cities in Japan is made seamless by the excellent train system, and even better is the luggage transfer service.
After breakfast at the hotel, oh the breakfast! I need to talk about that. The breakfast at the Groove Hotel cost more than our evening meals, but then our meals have been very cheap. Hotel breakfast buffets come in an array of qualities, and this hotel was really nice. They have all of the usual array to choose from, but everything was really delicious.
The transfer service will take your luggage from hotel to hotel, and the hotel arranges it for you. I believe short distances will only take a day, and we were told that from Tokyo to Osaka it would arrive the following afternoon. Now if you have been observant you would have noticed that the title of this post is Tokyo to Kyoto, not Osaka. Our cunning plan was to send the large cases on to Osaka and pack small cases with all we need for two days in Kyoto. So far so good, and hopefully our luggage will be in Osaka when we arrive. Although I have misplaced the luggage receipt!
Hotel Groove is only a short walk to the train station. We had purchased our Shinkansen (bulletin train) tickets on our first day in Tokyo when we were with Suchi our guide. It was very easy to purchase them from the machine at the station, or I believe you can also buy them at the manned booth. We paid a bit extra for ‘comfort’ and chose seats on the right hand side for a view of Mt Fuji. But she was shrouded in cloud so we only saw her feet!
The station was busy when we arrived at 10:30am. Our train was scheduled to depart at 11:18am but we wanted plenty of time to find our platform and to buy something to eat on the train. Please note that eating on the normal trains is frowned upon, but it is okay to eat on the Shinkansen. Lance waited by the turn off lane to Platform 18 and I set off to get some food. Finding a lovely little place with boxed yummy things I got sushi and an array of sandwiches. There was a moment of panic when I didn’t recognise the shops that I had taken note of on my way to the food shop. Navigating my way inside buildings is my achilles heel and I knew that this had the capacity to go horribly wrong! Backtracking to the food shop I found my way back to Lance just as he was messaging me to see if I was okay. Phew!
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| Waiting for the Shinkansen |
The Shinkansen was great; our seats were spacious and comfortable and the 2 hour trip flew by. And the sandwiches were delicious! I don’t know how they keep the bread so soft and fresh!
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| Delicious assortment of sandwiches! |
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| Some sort of tasty sausage meat crumbed and deep fried. |
Kyoto is quite different to Tokyo, tiny narrow streets run off the main roads and buildings are more traditional. Our hotel, The Mercure Station Hotel, is nice and the room is a bit more spacious, with a view across to some mountains. It is hotter here, 36 degrees, and even more humid!
After checking in we grabbed a taxi to Nishiki Market. This is a 400 year old market lined with food stalls, fresh and cooked. It is a narrow five block mall and high coloured glass roofs protect it from the weather. Honestly it just goes on and on, moving from food to retail shops.
A month ago, after watching many you tube clips on places to eat in Kyoto, we made a reservation at Wagyu Ryotei Bungo Gion. The food looked amazing and it also had a set price which was a bonus. We were prepared to pay good money, but didn’t want it to be thousands!
The taxi dropped us off and we entered the not very salubrious looking door. We were met and asked to remove our shoes as we stepped up onto the raised floor. One long table sat in the narrow room and was almost at floor level, fortunately our feet dangled in a cavity below rather than having to sit cross legged because this would have broken Lance!
A young man attended to us and it was a bit weird because on the other side of the table seemed to have the kitchen hidden behind two roller blinds and the chap, who we later found out was called Soshi, had to bob right down to get under it to go back and forth. Our drinks arrived and one other couple came and sat at the other end of the table, which had capacity for twelve. All of a sudden the lights went out and I thought, oh boy this place might be a bit disappointing. After a minute the roller blinds went up and five men stood at the kitchen counter with one saying something like commands in Japanese, They all answered in unison, bowed to us and began their tasks.
Several cuts of Wagyu Kobe beef had been placed in front of us and explained, and the menu of 14 courses looked fabulous and they asked if we wanted to exchange the tongue for another cut of meat, which we did. They also checked to see if we were okay with raw meat, which we were. And so it began …
Every morsel of meat was melt in your mouth, you hardly needed to chew, I’m not exaggerating! And full of flavour from the rendered fat that filtered through the whole cut.
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| Omi Wagyu Nigiri Sushi. We were advised to eat it in one bite. |
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Gorgeous sake glass.
Three of the courses had an accompanying beverage of sake.
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Wagyu prosciutto, Awaji Island cheese and Kyoto vegetable salad
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| Chargrilled tajima wagyu lean cut with Koji miso |
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This was a tiny little wagyu burger pattie with mashed potato but I gobbled it up before I took a photo
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| Oxtail broth with a thinly sliced radish on top. You push the radish into the soup and eat it. |
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| Seared Wagyu |
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Grilled Wagyu skewer
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Marbled Wagyu with black truffle
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| Nana-Niki Shaba Shaba with Kyoto White Miso and Wagyu Bouillon |
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| This is the ‘flan’ off the menu. But it was a layered savoury dish with wagyu bullion. |
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Tsukiakari Rice with Japanese Pickles
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| Long aged Wagyu sukiyaki |
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| Wagyu Chateaubriand |
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| A little sewer treat where you can choose your filling. I chose red bean. |
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| Can you believe that we squeezed in the Sakura Mont Blanc ice cream ! |
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